Saw it last night. GREAT MOVIE. Well paced, intriguing...100x better than Gravity and on par with Apollo 13 (IMO)
The Martian
- Thread starter alaskanseminole
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Saw it last week. They did a very good job and will likely clean up on all the technical awards. Matt Damon was good casting. Funny meme going around about all the money spent on bringing him home (saving private ryan, interstellar, martian)
Was pretty true to the book until the trip at the end and then they just left a lot of stuff out like they suddenly realize that they were going to have too long a movie.
Was pretty true to the book until the trip at the end and then they just left a lot of stuff out like they suddenly realize that they were going to have too long a movie.
Great flick. Went with my daughter last week, and she was fascinated. Very true to the book with a few minor changes to the end. One of the best movies I have seen this year.
Saw it last night and throughly enjoyed it. Didn't read book. Enjoyed the humor.
We saw it Friday. I loved it. While it was just a heightened, fictional version of Apollo 13, I don't have any problem with that at all. I really love the way it just rejected all the clichés that plague films of all genres. I wish more movies, of any genre, would have the confidence to break the mold a little bit. It's like you can bring in a checklist of things that a movie in any particular is going to check off.
Here's what I specifically liked NOT seeing in The Martian.
a) Protagonist was not some super-human. Don't you love the way a guy is a beat cop and it turns out that under pressure, he can leap 30 feet from one building to another? Or the video game nerd that can hack into an airline's ticketing platform within moments of someone coming up with the idea? Watney was just a smart guy. And not even all that much smarter than you might expect an astronaut to be. The guy has a good education and a positive attitude...and he makes it work.
b) Wow, where was the bad guy? Isn't there supposed to be some evil corporate suit that cut corners on the communication rig, and DOESN'T want Watney back, lest he expose the millions he made substituting bubble gum for silicon on the communication rig? I mean, how can there be enough tension simply from A GUY GETTING F------ING STRANDED ON MARS!
c) In a related note, isn't someone supposed to be a dick? Really, a bunch of professionals all working together to accomplish something? Don't we need someone on the Ares crew that wants to leave him there so they can get home for the Olympic opening ceremonies or something, so that we can have a dramatic screaming match, and the commander not just be a damn great commander and leader, but also one of the great orators of the 21st century?
d) No wife and kids for Watney? How could we ever sympathize with the guy's plight without transmissions from his toddler? It's simply not believable that without a wife and child, preferably one with a terminal illness for which Watney's bone marrow is the only possible cure, that the guy would have the fortitude to try to stay alive and get back.
e) Wait, where's the scene of unimaginable torture? Yeah, removing the metal that impaled him was pretty dramatic, but it was too early...we knew he'd make it. Why didn't we see him barely easing the last morsel of potato into his mouth, while his body is shutting down his functions, and he's hallucinating. Yeah, he lost a ton of weight, but unless something makes the viewer's stomach turn and look away, how do we know it was all that unpleasant?
f) What about the part when he's supposed to be dead? Isn't he supposed to be pulled onto the space ship, not breathing...no vital signs? Aren't we supposed to believe it was all for naught, when SURPRISE! he coughs a few times and is back.
g) As it turns out...NOBODY died. So where are the stakes? Shouldn't someone, preferably someone with baby twins at home or something, have been sucked out an airlock early on? You know, just so we all know SPACE IS SERIOUS ISH DOG.
h) Wait, we don't find out that the two Ares crew members have a thing for each other until the end? What's the point of that? If someone doesn't have to choose their duty over their heart, well, what the hell is the point. No matter WHAT someone does, it just isn't impressive if they didn't do it over the entreaties of a lover who just wants them to be safe. If a boyfriend isn't begging you not do it, it simply isn't brave. Everyone in the movies knows that.
Very impressed that everyone involved just made a damn good story without having to shoehorn in all the tropes we've come to expect.
Here's what I specifically liked NOT seeing in The Martian.
a) Protagonist was not some super-human. Don't you love the way a guy is a beat cop and it turns out that under pressure, he can leap 30 feet from one building to another? Or the video game nerd that can hack into an airline's ticketing platform within moments of someone coming up with the idea? Watney was just a smart guy. And not even all that much smarter than you might expect an astronaut to be. The guy has a good education and a positive attitude...and he makes it work.
b) Wow, where was the bad guy? Isn't there supposed to be some evil corporate suit that cut corners on the communication rig, and DOESN'T want Watney back, lest he expose the millions he made substituting bubble gum for silicon on the communication rig? I mean, how can there be enough tension simply from A GUY GETTING F------ING STRANDED ON MARS!
c) In a related note, isn't someone supposed to be a dick? Really, a bunch of professionals all working together to accomplish something? Don't we need someone on the Ares crew that wants to leave him there so they can get home for the Olympic opening ceremonies or something, so that we can have a dramatic screaming match, and the commander not just be a damn great commander and leader, but also one of the great orators of the 21st century?
d) No wife and kids for Watney? How could we ever sympathize with the guy's plight without transmissions from his toddler? It's simply not believable that without a wife and child, preferably one with a terminal illness for which Watney's bone marrow is the only possible cure, that the guy would have the fortitude to try to stay alive and get back.
e) Wait, where's the scene of unimaginable torture? Yeah, removing the metal that impaled him was pretty dramatic, but it was too early...we knew he'd make it. Why didn't we see him barely easing the last morsel of potato into his mouth, while his body is shutting down his functions, and he's hallucinating. Yeah, he lost a ton of weight, but unless something makes the viewer's stomach turn and look away, how do we know it was all that unpleasant?
f) What about the part when he's supposed to be dead? Isn't he supposed to be pulled onto the space ship, not breathing...no vital signs? Aren't we supposed to believe it was all for naught, when SURPRISE! he coughs a few times and is back.
g) As it turns out...NOBODY died. So where are the stakes? Shouldn't someone, preferably someone with baby twins at home or something, have been sucked out an airlock early on? You know, just so we all know SPACE IS SERIOUS ISH DOG.
h) Wait, we don't find out that the two Ares crew members have a thing for each other until the end? What's the point of that? If someone doesn't have to choose their duty over their heart, well, what the hell is the point. No matter WHAT someone does, it just isn't impressive if they didn't do it over the entreaties of a lover who just wants them to be safe. If a boyfriend isn't begging you not do it, it simply isn't brave. Everyone in the movies knows that.
Very impressed that everyone involved just made a damn good story without having to shoehorn in all the tropes we've come to expect.
Good post Nole Lou. I don't know if you read the book, but the movie sounds like it tracks the book (I haven't seen it yet). In the book there was no one that didn't want to attempt the rescue - just different levels of acceptable risk in the opinions of the decision makers. The only other conflict was whether and when to tell the Ares 3 crew about Watney being alive (which blends into the disagreement about what to do to save him). The Ares Mission director went behind the NASA administrator's back and told the crew in a unique, discreet way. I wanted to wait until my Dad got back from vacation so we could see it together this weekend (he worked on the Atlas Centaur missile program for almost 40 years, with the majority of that time as the Launch Director. He's reading the book now; will be interested in his technical feedback.
have a feeling that when it comes out on the DVD that the last part of the book will be included I the directors cut.
Yeah, that tracks with the film. And that provides plenty of secondary tension. No need to have a terrorist mole in NASA or some such bs.
Futuristic Robinson Crusoe. In the first 30 minutes I was worried that it was going to be another Tom Hanks Castaway movie...very boring. But it was an entertaining movie. One thing I thought was unrealistic was driving 3500 km and knowing that there was a path to get from A to B, but I suppose they had terrain maps or something. I'd like to see a Shackleton movie.
It also made me wonder how long until we have a manned Mars mission.
It also made me wonder how long until we have a manned Mars mission.
As far as the route to get from Ares 3 to Ares 4, the book goes into considerable detail as to how he knew where he was going. Haven't seen the movie yet, but in the book there's a serious dust storm he figures out a way to navigate around so as not to die.
Just saw it last night and I was thoroughly impressed and entertained. Even with all of the hype going into it, I still really enjoyed it... and I think it surpassed my expectations.
Great story and great movie!
Great story and great movie!
